Chapter posted: 31st August 2018
I live bitch.
Disclaimer: I don't own SAO.
Chapter 10: Of Governments and Sellswords
"The First of the Gifts was grains, and from the Earth was sustenance for all of Man."
Of the four popular grains in Aincrad, rice is the second most popular especially in the jungle and islands kingdoms. Growing in paddy fields around the Castle, its ease of maintenance and long storage capacity makes it the grain of choice in the warmer and humid parts of Aincrad.
Miinimum Cooking skill required: 0
Storage life: 4 years (kept well)
- Rice item description
The smoking pipe was of fine craftsmanship. It was long and elegant, the bowl made of briar, the stem of cherrywood. Helmuth was a smoker during the early years of college, though he quit halfway in when he realised how expensive cigarettes were becoming and how his soon-to-be-wife threatened to dump him if he didn't . Aside from the few celebratory cigars amongst colleagues, he didn't really smoke all that much. Smoking was such a frowned upon thing, most of the world have moved on. It was the 2050s, not the 2010s after all.
But this? What's a little smoke after a battle to calm the nerves? Narcotics simulation existed during the earliest days of VR of the 2020s. Most of the effects without the downsides. Smoking literally has no chance to kill him so he didn't see why he shouldn't. He was sober most of the time, wasn't a compulsive gambler like some of the Company staff. This was one vice he allowed himself.
With a pinch of tobacco from his pouch and a lit match, the fire came to life. He savored the sweet aroma with a couple of puffs.
Overall, a job well done.
He patted Schattenfax on the snout. "You've been good today, boy. Tonight, I shall buy you a hand of bananas."
Appreciative neighing!
One of the company's new recruits, in terrible shape, sauntered up to him. "Hey prof, did I do good?"
He never noticed him during the fight. Somewhat difficult to do, what with being on a horse, the charging at the enemy, and the chance of dying at any point due to a rock he couldn't see. Regardless, much like how students needed praise so they care for the work they did, so did men after a particularly tough battle.
He nodded. "You did, Private. Fine work! What happened to your hand?"
The private, a young Japanese lad of about nineteen answered, "Oh this? I dunno." Three of his fingers were bent at an unnatural angle. "S-should I go to British-chan?"
"Yes, it's best you do." The private saluted, his wrist gave let out a horrifying crack, before passing out. The Colonel sighed, extinguished his pipe, before hauling the private to the inn.
Thinker had called for a meeting at the battlements. He attended the meeting with other head Clearers. Thinker and Yulier were there, as did were representers of the Legends Brave, Followers of the Compass and various smaller guilds. Helmuth looked upon the compound with a feeling of disgust and pity. The entire compound was a mess of broken equipment and broken bodies. Wagons were destroyed, horses were either dead or ran off into the wild, and injured players huddled themselves in the most comfortable corner to heal. It was as if a tornado had spawned right on top of the place.
And perhaps the most curious thing about the ambush: the oil monsters left no trace of their existence. The bodies sank into the ground. Helmuth didn't even need to clean his sword, it was if he never unsheathed it that morning.
"So," Mortimer began. The general had changed out of his armour. He walked with a slight limp, his left calf fully bandaged. "Where do we go from here?"
Thinker closed the PM window. "I've contacted personnel at the Black Castle. They'll be sending more of our doctors here. It'll take a while though."
Compass representative Maqdisi said, "We've sent our men to nearby villages looking for healers. They'll be here soon enough."
The man called Heracles leaned against his crutch. His stump of a hand needed a new dressing. Everyone was polite enough not to stare. The burly man smiled at everyone as if he didn't just lose an important part of his body. "Worry not, good sirs! The Legends Brave stands again after this disastrous event. We'll just need some time to recover. Maybe two weeks or so?"
The youngest of the group, Captain Greysteel of 2nd Company, was for the most part healthy save a few bruises. "Hey you know how we ran out of arrows last time, and then found the caravanserai's armory with around a few hundred arrows or bolts? Those are gone now. One of the alchemists mentions she saw them climbing down the wall with them."
"You know, I've killed a dozen of those things myself. Ferociously and bravely, and so did my Companions," said Heracles. "But I noticed I didn't get any XP."
In an instant everyone's eyes drifted to their XP bar at the bottom of their vision. Helmuth was level 21, newly so. The XP bar should have filled at least 1/5th with all the fighting he did but sure enough it hadn't budge for the past few days.
"You're right," said Adalid. "What in Jesus' name ..."
Thinker snapped his fingers. "An ambush on a wounded army, a night attack. Unbalanced, unfair, rage inducing. This can only mean one thing: the Main Quest is finally picking up."
Silence fell as everyone digested what was just said.
"... SAO has a Main Quest?" asked Colonel Gomez. SAO has quests, but a storyline-centric quest was never brought up by Argus. Not even once. Lore was never at the forefront save for the vaguest outdated references in the earliest renditions of the official website some nine years ago. Helmuth cared more for gameplay than story so didn't pay all that much attention to it.
"You recall what Kayaba said at the start? Create a World and Intervene in It. And that's exactly what it was, an intervention. Rather than relying on developer GMs like it was originally planned or letting the AI do it, he's more or less calling the shots himself."
"So what you're saying is," said Mortimer, "is that he's a shitty GM."
"Most GM's don't try to murder their players, yes," said the cartographer. Helmuth thought to himself that the man had not met many GMs.
"Admittedly," said Thinker, "this is conjecture from what I can recall from SAO's development. From what I little know of Kayaba personally. It's best we stay on our toes, and await for further developments. We should focus on regrouping before tackling the next dungeon boss."
Then there was rumbling. The kind that Japan faced on a semi-regular basis. Helmuth had been in Japan on-and-off for two years, he had forgotten how it felt. Players were standing up, looking around, confused; the foreign players more so than the local ones. A watchman blew a horn and everyone faced east.
There was a shine on the eastern horizon, glinting lights in the late morning sun. Then came hulking grey beasts, a dozen in number. Cavalrymen came riding small horses, armed with lance and bows. Helmuth leaned over the railing and pump a fist into the air. With a shout and a wave Helmuth used his «Tactics» skill to summon his infantry to him, the call of a horn providing a minor speed buff to movement. Nearby, Sergeants JoeJoe1334 and Face-Tanner dropped a stretcher much to the misfortune of the patient, jogged up beneath the railing.
"Get the men ready! I want them in proper square formations in five minutes!"
"Sure thing, prof!" they yelled back, rushing to rally whatever spearmen they could get.
The unknown army came closer, Helmuth counted roughly a thousand. The Clearers had faced undead and monsters but had never fought actual human opponents on such a scale. The soldiers wore brightly colored tunics and good quality mail, wielded their weapons with ease that only came with experience. Half if not most of them were of a higher level than the Clearers were; they didn't stand a chance fully healed, they won't stand a chance when half of them were incapacitated.
Greysteel was there, and with a calmness that belied his age, said to the commanders, "We need a plan of retreat."
A woman on a white horse trotted over followed by a nondescript man on a plain brown mare. The woman was dressed elaborately, in shining silver scale and black tunic inlaid with gold. She was crowned with a simple but charming folded hat of the same colour. Resting on her shoulder was a tall lance with a flag , the head of a tiger on a black field tied to it. With a clear voice she shouted:
"In the Name of His Majesty, the Daula of Nadyah, you are all under arrest!"
It had been a couple of days after the night's dinner. Kirito had turn in his keys to Mrs Pelmerri, and after a serious-near-death hugging session from Argo (the tiny girl had high STR and solid muscles for a non-adventurer), the four player team left on their mounts, kept to the highway and took their time. News of the Clearers' victory of the 11th floor dungeon had already spread far and wide; Asuna and the others weren't the only players on the road.
They took the western highway portal and made quick work by keeping to their mounts. Asuna was quite proud and pleased with her Nyskerian mare, Kumo. This was her third day that she and Kumo were on the road and the white beast had proven to be an able, if snooty, companion.
Her fellow players' mounts weren't shabby either. Spiegel and Sinon shared a farmer's cart, a chariot like-carriage, pulled by a strong draft horse. It was large and strong but as Asuna suspected, had little in the way of experience being only a level 2. Spiegel told her that it was a quest reward for clearing out a cave of spiders. Solid for pulling cars and ploughs, unwise to do much else.
Then there was Kirito and his odd …. attachement to his donkey.
"She's not a donkey! She's a mule!"
"Sorry, Kirito-kun. "
"Not me, you should be apologising to Lydia-chan."
"Excuse me?"
Kirito patted the animal on her snout. "Lydia-chan, my mule! She carries all my burdens."
"Hee haw!" Lydia brayed.
"Uhuh." Dork.
They joined a caravan train on the seventh floor numbering around fifty or so. A collection of fighters in heavy mail and crafters hauling their tools in carriages. It had become harder to tell the difference between player and NPC these days without actually asking. To her surprise, the spearman Asuna had been speaking to about the town they're going was actually an NPC caravan guard. The fact he looked somewhat Japanese and was able to carry a conversation for a good half hour threw her off.
"We're going to the capital of the Nadyah Kingdom, Agra Nagara. A prestigious and ancient city, surrounded by a valley of terraced rice fields. Nadyah trades wood, silk, fish and iron to Gram while Gram exports steel, horses and grain. The two kingdoms have been the strongest of allies since the days of the Great Unification. When one is attacked, the other will come to its aid."
"How is Nadyah like?" Asuna had never been to a jungle before. She hoped there weren't any mosquitoes.
"Well, there's lots of mosquitoes." Crap. "Weather and terrain are unkind to most outsiders. But the people are friendly and their realm beautiful. Be careful when travelling however. The monsters there make the goblins here look like peaceful tribals."
Asuna trotted Kumo up to Sinon and Spiegel, the former holding the reins while the latter took in the sights, nary a care in the world. His companion never seemed to let her guard down, her hand on the stock of a hunting crossbow. Even during the dinner before she had one nearby. In a way, she reminded her of her college seniors, very serious kinds of people.
Sinon acknowledged her presence with a nod. "What's up?"
"Still upset about poker night?"
She shrugged. "We already lost when we went up against Argo. You think someone like her plays fair?"
The swordswoman recalled the painful memory. The nervousness of having a bad hand. The dread of of losing her money. The rush of having her opponents where she wanted them, only for the Rat to pull the rug from under her and smother her to death.
"Hee-hee! You're already dead, Asu-chan!"
She missed her silver spurs as did the jingle jangle jingles it made. Sinon on the other hand only lost a few Xilings.
The Rat was probably using them as shuriken right now the cheating bit-
She focussed back on the other girl. "What do you know about the next floor?"
Spiegel interrupted, "I hear it's going to be mostly jungles which means it's gonna get hot and humid. We might have to balance protection and comfort."
"We'll also need to take better care of our kit, Weapon and Armor «Condition» will deteriorate faster in this weather. If you need some emergency repairs, Spiegel's really good at that," said Sinon, smiling.
"Cook, repairman, halberdier, crossbowman; you're a real jack-of-all-trades, Spiegel-san," she complimented.
The boy's cheek grew pink. "Oh, t-thanks! I like to spread out my Perk points. Gotta cover everything."
"Aren't you level 17? How are you able to spread out so much and still be competent?"
Whatever Spiegel was about to say died in his throat. His brows furrowed, his smile turned upside down. She wondered if she had offended him in a way before he finally said, "I … think I need some time to think, Asuna-san."
Sinon looked at her with a similarly confused expression. Getting the hint, she trotted away from the duo.
Asuna distracted herself by getting to know some of the other players. She met a group from of Vietnamese players in the typical adventurer formation who all happened to be dedicated bakers. Another interesting character was a rich merchant girl NPC who had something to prove to her father. She specialised in textiles, to whom she traded a few coppers for a ball of wool. Asuna's blanket was old, it was time for a new one and maybe level up her «Tailoring».
A congregation of monks in rough brown robes were also travelling, preaching the good word of the gods to the faithful. She dropped a handful of col into one of their bowls; one of them made a gesture to bless her: the tips of both hands forming a shape of an arrow. For the months she stayed in the game, she still wasn't sure what it meant, so she asked.
The oldest among them, a man in his fifties enlightened her. "It is the holy sign of ascension, a reminder that all of man can become as gods. The lady's kindness is but a step to godliness."
She would ask more had Kirito not called her. A polite bow to the holy men and she was off.
Kirito was fiddling with his Character Sheet when she got to him, only then realising how a difference in height being on a horse really made, as if she was looking down from atop a table. He didn't take his eyes off the screen as he began, "So are you going pure Swordsman route, what with carrying only one weapon thing going on?"
"Excuse me?"
"Why don't you carry a range weapon?" He looked up at her. "No bow, no crossbow, not even a rock. Why?"
This never occurred to her for whatever reason so she told him so.
Kirito's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. "You're specialising in only one combat system?!"
"Hey, nothing wrong with that! My sword is good enough on its own!"
"... you sure?"
"Of co-" she stopped, her brain conjuring memories where she was less than useful in a shieldwall, where she hid behind others because her separ was too small, where she was unable to run down game and nearly broke her sword by chucking it at them.
"... now you mentioned it, what would you recommend?"
Asuna almost regretted asking, as Kirito flooded her inbox with dozens of character sheets and guides at once, assaulting her with suggestion after suggestion, prodding her about her own Skills as well as producing a collection of bows, crossbows, javelins, and assorted missiles from Lydia's bags, blabbering on about pros and cons and bla bla bla.
Normally she'd get annoyed and would politely told Kirito off, but the wide puppy eyed enthusiasm he was giving was … endearing, in a way. She raised her hand, and in the sweetest voice she can muster, said, "Uh, can we slow down a bit?"
Asuna listened carefully to Kirito's explanations. She was surprised at the breadth of knowledge he had on both weapon usage and his understanding of SAO's system. For example, she learned that the formula for max missile damage (pierce/blunt damage + optimal distance - wind/weather/enemy armor), Perks that increase her shield's effective cover («Arrow Umbrela» first level of 3% was unimpressive but it apparently stacked exponentially down the line) as well as a thing or two about swords.
"Hey, maybe later you can show me a thing or two about how use your longsword? For now, I'm gonna study these guides you sent me."
The sellsword presented her with a shining smile. "No problem. I'll make time in my schedule."
Asuna caught Sinon giving her a glare, and only then did she realise what she just said. She trotted Kumo forward citing she was looking for hares for dinner, refusing to look back at Kirito fearing he see her reddening face.
It was around sunset when the caravan train reached the designated camping spot, somewhere on the southwestern part of the 9th floor. The caravaners arranged themselves in a rough circle, creating a circle of wood and cloth to protect against the elements with their wagons. Asuna tied Kumo to one of the wagons, performing the routine of taking off the saddle and curying the white mare. Autumn was arriving as the last days of August, or Warmhold as the game calls it, came to a close. It only occurred that some of the NPCs were wearing a cap or a scarf. If she had leftover wool, she should knit her friends some mittens too.
They chose a spot not too far from a merchant cart carrying metals. Kirito volunteered to spear some fish from a nearby stream with some caravan guards. Spiegel was already digging a pit for the fire while Sinon was prepping a small crossbow to hunt game. It actually felt nice to not do everything by herself. She walked up to the other boy and asked if he needed help.
"Uh yeah, sure! How much is your «Survival»?"
Without saying a word, Asuna took a knee. She picked up a nearby rock, adjusted her shamshir and with a precise strike scrapped at the pommel. The spark produced the tiniest of fireballs, lighting the pile of wood on fire.
"There you go!" she said with satisfaction. «Survival» was immensely useful as it made fire keeping easier and decreased the discomfort while sleeping outside. It was on its way up to 150. Another thousand more campfires and five hundred hours of sleeping under the stars and she would max it out at the 400 mark in no time.
"Umm ... Asuna-san. The pile wasn't ready yet."
Asuna bowed and apologised, looking for wood to give to the fire.
It was a pretty good campfire, if Asuna said so herself. The fire raged and gave a warm glow, one of many around the camp. They boiled water to make tea, and when it was done both Kirito and Sinon had arrived with fish and quail. Asuna offered to help with the butchering but Sinon insisted on doing it herself. She grabbed her knife and cooking board and went elsewhere to cut, less she get blood everywhere.
"I'm gonna browse the caravan, see if I can pick something up for myself," said the sellsword.
Spiegel gave him a look. "Dude, you got like, six other weapons on you. And you're not using any of them."
"Can't get be caught unprepared if I have all the tools I need." Kirito tapped his head. His companions rolled his eyes. " I don't have a problem!" he said, stomping off.
This was the first time Asuna had roasted quail and fish for a meal. Her usual camp food consisted of tack and bread, guarding her money for months when money became physical at some point. Nothing a couple of bay leaves and olive oil couldn't improve. The boys heaped praises upon her while Sinon gave a complimentary nod. They washed it down with lemonade bought from the villagers nearby.
It was only nine but everyone had some sort of agreement to rest early and to move out before dawn to make time to get to the markets before the afternoon. Kirito told her that the NPCs have their own schedules, something she had already known, but what she didn't know was how they can be late and like people, compensate by doing things earlier. Despite the lack of a caravan master, it was agreed upon that each group had contribute a guard for night watch. Asuna volunteered for the first watch.
"I'll be last," Spiegel said. "I-if you don't mind that is."
"If you need a crossbow, well you where to find me," the hunter offered. Kirito had already snoozed off in his tent.
The abundance of people travelling meant that the alloted watch time was only an hour and a half. The caravan was still well and awake despite orders from the self appointed caravan masters to tell everyone to go to sleep. Leaving the ring of wagons, she positioned herself under a tree and set her sights east, the road barely visible under the stars. Aincrad's levels were not created equally, and while there was no rough measurement of the average floor, the entire castle was said to have the landmass roughly the size of Africa. The thought she had to battle an entire continent worth of monsters frightened her - but it also excited her.
Her vision had gotten better as she invested points into «Perception» and was able to take the «Night Vision» perk, but a patch three weeks ago nerfed it much to everyone's annoyance. On the upside, torches lasted 30% longer. The nearest light available was ten feet away, a lantern hanging on one of the carts. This was the time of the day she busied her hands.
She worked on an old pair gloves in near darkness. Asuna had repaired mail, polished her burgonet, and cleaned her sword in caves and dungeons before, under the full moon it was nothing. When she was done Asuna produced her test notes again. The nerf was bad, she couldn't read it without a candle at hand. She should really copypasted her Sighing to herself, she leaned back into the tree, enjoying the cool night air and stars until the end of her watch.
Her thoughts drifted to all manner of things. To old dungeon dives, to family, to her studies. Then her travelling companions. It was nearly five months in-game but she admittedly hadn't made much in the way of friends. Acquaintances and allies yes, but she travelled amongst players instead with them.
Kirito was an oddity even amongst other players she's met. Rarely they met at a boss fight, even rarer out in the field. He was always hiding his face behind a full helm despite the fact she was sure no one even remembered the whole Beater thing anymore. She had heard how he had this tendency to take on an area a couple or more levels higher than intended. There was also something about a dragon, a while back? She'd speak more but Asuna felt that pushing too much would be rude.
Sinon was the quiet type too, but she opened up much more easily than Kirito (which wasn't saying much). What she could gather about the girl was that she was a year younger than her, a dedicated Clearer, knows the quests well enough to get good gear, and for whatever reason insists on skinning and butchering everything herself. Not that she mind, she was very good at it, but it was agreed that Asuna was to play cook. She also hadn't seen Sinon's super crossbow in a while though, had she lost it?
The swordswoman had approached Spiegel on the subject and his answers was a lot of shrugging and deflecting. The other boy never seemed to be completely comfortable around her. It couldn't be because she was a girl, he and Sinon had been together since the game began. Was it something she said? Was it the way she carried herself? Did she smell? That can't be it, she bathed almost everyday.
Her navel gazing was disturbed as a figure appeared to the side. She shot straight up, whipping her shamshir with practiced easy and readied herself for a fight.
"Dừng lại! Friendly! Friendly!"
She relaxed when the figure appeared to not be a monster. He had a nervous smile and something in his hand. "Relax, yeah? Just wanted to talk."
Asuna sheathed her blade and bowed slightly, apologising for the rudeness. The other player came closer. She recognised him, one of the Vietnamese players she chatted with on the road. Same mail shirt, same floral silk tunic. He seemed roughly around her level, maybe lower, but the intricate messer that hung of his baldric spoke otherwise. There was an odd power pulsing from it ...
The player introduced himself as Chef Bàn Là. He threw something at her to which she caught without thinking.
It was warm and wrapped in leaves. As if reading her mind, he said, "It's just a bun, don't worry, no funny business here."
Indeed it was, and from the taste she guessed it was pork. She couldn't recall the last time she had pork at all.
"So how would you rate it?"
Asuna took another bite, savouring the taste. After a moment of contemplation, she said to the Chef, "8.5. Could use a bit more vegetables, maybe some legumes?"
For a moment Asuna thought she had offended him somehow but the exasperated look on his face was more of annoyance than anger. "Of course! I knew I had forgotten something." His smile stayed but was much sadder. "Sometimes it's nice to remember our family's cooking. Also to discuss it with a local than speak English."
"I'm sure your Japanese is fine."
The other played asked in Japanese "Where is the bathroom?" and it was like a two year old repeating what their mother said but worse. Or at least, she thought he was asking where the bathroom was.
"I'll take your shudder that it was pronounced perfectly. Our shift ends in an hour or so, what say we exchange recipes?"
Notepad out, keyboard ready. "Share me your secrets."
The two cooks were in the process of complaining about how terribly build the ovens were (so close to the ground!) when they saw something in the distance. Silhouettes running at them with great speed. Wolves were the first thing that came to mind but wolves wouldn't attack such a large camp. When she turned to face Bàn Là, he already had his sword out; the engravings of the blade glowed like ambers.
"We should sound the alarm," he suggested. Asuna wasn't going to argue with that.
They barely made it halfway when something slammed into her back, knocking her breath away. A yell from her fellow cook can only mean he was fighting whatever it was that was attacking her had gotten Bàn Là. A hand pulled at her hair, cold and oily and Asuna yelled in pain as sharp nails clawed into her skull.
Fear threatened to consume her but she pushed it back down, deep, locked it away. She pulled herself up, rested on her forearms. She pushed herself off the ground, cold gunk dripped on her neck as he. The swordswoman rolled to the side, pulling out her blade.
She felt a shock in her wrist. She didn't need to look at her sword to know it was covered by the same thick liquid. Her second attempt convinced her that it wasn't worth it. Under the moonlight she had a vague impression of her attacker: humanoid and covered in some sort of thick black oil, the, red eyes gleaming in the darkness.
Asuna barely had time to help or shout for help before the figure charged at her with swiping claws. She took steps back every time it swung, unsure of what to do. The uneven ground nearly made her trip but the mistake was enough for a claw to bloody her arm. She cursed herself for not bringing her buckler along with her.
She acted with instinct, shoulder charging the monster with immense speed. Asuna gripped and pulled at its thighs, slamming it to the ground just like how Argo taught her. She gripped its neck with her left hand, trying to reach at her dagger all the while avoiding the claws trying to tear at her face. What felt like an eternity passed when she finally had hold of it, ending its life like she had a dozen monsters before.
It didn't work. Living oil warped back to its gaping throat, black covering black. Iit did not cry out in pain, it did not made a single sound all the while they were fighting. Another mistake: its hand grabbed at left her wrist and pulled, twisting at an angle wrists shouldn't. She dropped the dagger, screaming.
Asuna responded in kind by slamming her forehead into the monster. It must have worked as it was stunned for just a moment giving her enough time to wrench her hand free as she began to pummel at its face over and over and over. Her right fist hit dirt, the creature was gone.
She looked for Bàn Là a dozen feet away from her. Dagger in hand, she rushed to help but her help was unneeded, as the other player was able to kick the offending creature off him. It would have grappled again had Bàn Là not whipped out his blade burying it into its face. The sword glowed with power, intricate runes on the blade flared to life as the creature's head burst into flames.
With just a push, the monster fell to the ground. Its corpse bubbled as it was being boiled from the inside out before melting into the grass, as if it was never there in the first place. "Vãi lồn …"
This was no time to stand around slack-jawed. "We need to get back to the caravan!" They ran back.
The other guards reacted as expected when one sees two injured players running at them as if death was right behind them. A general alarm was sounded as the annoyed travellers roused from their sleep. Their incident sparked worries and fear amongst the caravan. No chances were taken; the wagons were pulled closer, horses brought within the circle as more people volunteered to keep watch for the night. The injured two returned to their teams to be treated.
One of the nicer things about travelling with people you knew is that they had your back. In a normal dungeon run, whenever she got hurt a medic would treat her wounds, given something to soothe the pain and kicked her ass out when other similarly injured players came for help. Both Spiegel and Kirito were treating her with surprising gentleness while Sinon was asking questions, a quiet anger in her eyes.
"So, you killed it … but it didn't die?" asked the blue haired girl, prepping a massive arbalest.
"That's right. I slit its throat but it didn't do anything. I don't think its health went down either. It was like trying to cut mud. Ouch!"
"Hold still! Do you want to lose all your hair?" Spiegel said. He was dabbing the cuts on her head piece of cotton on her head while Kirito cleaned her arm.
"I've never heard of this kind of monster," said Kirito. "The properties would pin them as some sort of «Slime Monster», but I've never heard them to be humanoid shaped. Skeletons and dead people inside them sure, but never humanoid itself."
"If a slice to the neck didn't kill it, how was the other guy was able to kill the other one?" wondered Spiegel.
She told them of Bàn Là's fire sword which elicited a reaction a look of understanding amongst her companions rather the expected confusion. Before she could ask, Kirito explained, "We're around the range where enchanted items are becoming more common instead of being rare."
"Will fire work?" asked the swordswoman.
Sinon produced a bolt from her quiver; the head hollowed out resembling somewhat like a tiny cage. "We can put some tinder, oiled cloth and light it on fire to make flaming bolts. I'll pass some of these alongside the information to the rest of the guards."
Asuna suddenly felt extremely exhausted. Both Spiegel and Sinon had agree to take up guard duty along with the rest of the now alert watchers, the circle had become crowded with people sleeping or trying to sleep. Her sleeping bag for all its thickness wasn't able to keep the cold out nor did the nervous chatter do her any favours. It was as if the mere presence of the enemy made the temperature drop. She would have gotten closer to the fire had others not already hogged it, regretted not wearing warmer socks.
Kirito sat against one of the wagon wheels, longsword lying on his hip, eyes wide and alert. "Sleep, Asuna. We'll take it from here."
"Wake me up for next shift yeah?"
"You've done enough, go to sleep okay?" he smiled warmly.
She smiled back. It wasn't a fire, but it was just enough for her to sleep a dreamless sleep.
Mason didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. No one did, but it was the most sensible solution. The tough looking woman in scale had called for the general of the army and his underlings to come out and surrender in one hour.
Of course there were technically two generals, and there were multiple captains, the odd major, and that didn't take into account the different ranks for players of different nationalities. It was a huge mess and one where people can't agree on anything. General Mortimer of the Gokuen Gun was arguing with Captain Adalid of ALF 4th Company who were in turn arguing with Maqdissi of the Followers of the Compass while Heracles was leaning on the wall, his one hand nursing a bottle of beer he found somewhere.
Some of Ridwan's own men were still out there looking for herbs to resupply the alchemists' depleting medicine or escorting local healers to the players aid. He was sure Farras and Malik were smart enough to turn the other way when they found another army besieging the already besieged one. They were probably only a thousand strong, outnumbered 3 to 1 but the injured and exhausted were in no position to fight whatsoever even with walls on their side.
One side argued to parlay with the enemy. The other argued for full retreat.
"I say we burn this place to the ground and in the confusion retreat back to the portal or the countryside. We'll haul the injured on our animals if we have to," said Captain Adalid of ALF 4th Company.
"And what of our loot?" asked General Mortimer. "We didn't fight tooth and nail and I didn't lose twenty men to let it all go to waste."
Yulier gave the other general a scowl. "Are trinkets worth more than men to you, Mortimer?"
"That's very easy for you to say, being the biggest guild in the game. You can throw men after men at your problem, we have no such luxury. Let's not suggest either of us are on equal footing."
"How dare you-"
"Enough! "I'm the one in charge here and until we're all out free and safe I still am and I'll decide. I'll go out and parlay," said Thinker with a sense of finality that brook no argument.
"Are you sure about this? Some of us can back you up if you want to?" asked Captain Greysteel, the boy of fifteen suddenly looked his age. Ridwan tended to forget he was barely any older than the kids staying at the orphanage.
Thinker smiled. "Don't worry about it. I think I got this. Yulier, if anything happens to me, you're in charge."
The two shared a look, a silent argument raged between them for a moment. Yulier seemed to lose as she closed her eyes, letting out a sigh. "Yes sir."
"I shall go with you," said Vilagomez. The Colonel of 4th Company had a nasty bruise on his arm but was otherwise hale. "You should at least have some bodyguards with you." Much of Thinker's own personal guard were hurt in the fight, the little fighting Ridwan did see of them showed they took their duties extremely seriously.
"Thank you, Herman but I need you and Adalid here to manage and help with the management. I'll only need one person with me anyway. One who's good with words and can be diplomatic." Diplomatic missions, whether that be to other players or NPCs were always headache inducing. Ridwan pitied the people who Thinker chose to accompany him.
Ten minutes later, a small group exited the caravanserai on horseback, bearing a white flag for all to see.
"Thinker, I just want to point out that I'm not the diplomat kind," said Ridwan. Sadly, he couldn't pump points into «Diplomacy» or «Speech» or whatever because those don't exist in SAO. They were by all accounts, at the mercy of NPC AI and Ridwan did not trust Kayaba's AI.
"I don't like this, it reeks of a trap," said Mortimer who relented and agreed to go. He had two underlings with him, a big Mediterranean bearded man with a bow on his saddle and a savage looking battle axe on his lap and a small South Asian woman with a lot of knives on her person.
"You worry too much, I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding and when we explain ourselves, they'll be completely fine with it," said Maqdissi who was accompanied by another Arab player, a fellow cartographer he presumed. Ridwan would have found the man's optimism refreshing were they not in the situation they were currently in.
"Everyone stay calm, let me do the talking," said Thinker. They were halfway across the field to when horsemen approached, bows, swords and axes on hand. The banner of the tiger became larger as they approached, its eyes seem to follow them everywhere. Out of the fire, into the frying pan.
They were surrounded and escorted. The NPC army were already setting up defenses in expectation of a counter attack from the Clearers. The cavalry were spread wide and thin to screen the infantry. The infantry themselves were hauling logs, digging pits, the kind of work that would give them a little fort of their own. Ridwan considered telling their captors that it would be wasted, that they were in no danger of retaliation but the escorts seemed to be in no mood for chit chats.
His companions too kept silent. Mortimer and his underlings kept straight faces, eyes forward, but it was clear they were surveying the NPCs. The soldiers wore bright tunics, orange, red, blue, white, all sorts. They weren't as heavily armed as the Clearers were, opting for mail or padded vests, their helmets pointed caps sometimes wrapped with turbans. City guards of Granum were more heavily armored but there was a sense of professionalism amongst these troopers.
The group dismounted as servants came to take away their horses. They walked through the still assembling camp to a large tent, the kind that the ALF used as command centres for boss fights except more expensive looking. The opening was guarded by two peculiar figures: a very large man, easily over six feet tall, with nothing but a helmet and a breastplate, barring muscular arms with a greatsword planted to the ground and a small woman, unarmored dressed in tunic and pants, a blade tucked nicely in her short skirt.
The guards that escorted them left. The big man spoke, voice muffled by his greathelm, "You may keep your weapons but no funny business."
"Are you not afraid for your commander's safety?" asked Mortimer.
"Are you not afraid of dying to a drop of antiaris?" chirped the female guard. Ridwan had no idea what that was but the subtlest twitch of Mortimer's eye was enough to queit him.
As Thinker entered, a log sized arm stopped him. "Take off your shoes and behave yourselves," said the guard.
The floor was covered with duckboards. Three figures were pouring over a map on the table, a man and a woman. Ridwan recognised the woman as the one who 'arrested' the entire Clearer army. The man was dressed elegantly, his black tunic made of some high quality material. His breastplate had a blue hue, some sort of metal he didn't recognised, with five green gems over his heart arrayed in the shape of a flower. Sword and dagger were strapped firmly into his skirt, equally elegant with dazzling patterns.
The man finally looked up from the table. He was somewhere in his fifties, with serious brown eyes and a well cared for beard. Despite being a few inches shorter, the way he carried himself him an aura of wealth and prestige, clearly a nobleman. He asked, "Do you mind telling me why on earth did you sack one of the oldest and most prestigious caravanserai in all of Aincrad?"
Thinker stepped forward, bowed slightly. "Milord, allow me to explai-"
"You are all lucky it was me that got here. If it was the Laksamana he would have shadowed you through the night and slit your throats while you slept." He sighed. "Now Outsiders, would you please give me a good reason to not hang you all from the nearest tree right now?"
Mortimer put his hand on his sword, the NPC woman likewise. Thinker spoke fast.
"We were attacked by monsters," said Thinker. He breathed deep. "It's a long story."
Thinker explained the 11th floor campaign from beginning to the end, from the call of arms on the 8th floor to the travelling to the 11th. Considering that Ridwan wasn't a part of the campaign, he learned some things that would he would only have been privy to had he asked for battle reports. Some ten guilds, with the ALF and the Gokuen Gun being two largest, assaulted the Star Fort and were faced by a strange combination of monsters from previous levels. Minotaur axemen to Sawa spearmen to the usual undead, save for the Undead at the very end who wielded silver shields and killed half a dozen players. It took awhile for Thinker to explain this but the man was a trained journalist and used to host a podcast on upcoming games, and was by all accounts a very competent speaker.
The nobleman absorbed it with surprising patience. Ridwan had from time to time taken contracts from nobles that amounted to glorified pest control. He didn't mind them, how else would he level up new recruits? But this was different, most quest givers don't come with an army in tow after all.
Thinker finally finished. The nobleman drank his glass of water and rubbed his eyes. "I admit, I have a hard time believing any of this. For one, why are you using these old portals? They haven't been in used in a thousand years."
"We can't use them ourselves? Us players …"
"Players?" the nobleman asked. Ridwan once explained to a farmer how they were all stuck in a video game and how everything wasn't real. The farmer responded by telling he should visit a temple and pray to the gods to break whatever curse he was under.
"Outsiders, Foreigners, whatever you want to call us, can't use the normal portals in towns. Not unless we go to some ruin and kill whatever monsters inhabit them."
The nobleman shared a look with his underling. "And what does this have to do with the attack on the caravanserai?"
Thinker explained the ambush. The NPCs' eyes widened at the mentioned of oil monsters. Both glanced at each other. The woman whispered something in his ear.
The nobleman put his hands on the the table, let out a sigh. "I will give you one option and one only: you will leave your spoils and return back to the lower floors. You are not welcomed in our kingdom. We have no need for routiers like you."
Maqdissi stepped forward. "Milord, please reconsider. We can't return home if we can't go to the the 100th floor."
The nobleman stepped back as if punched in the face, the woman covered her mouth in shock.
"Now I know you're all crazy. You seek to reach Paradise? Bandits are bad enough, and you're going to go up against literal gods?" He adjusted his the weapons in his belt and said to the woman, "Captain, arrest these men. See if we can't force their little routiers to leave our lands."
More soldiers came into the tent, swords or daggers out. Mortimer's female lieutenant reached for her blade but his big one put a hand on his shoulder. The general didn't seem to notice or didn't care.
"This is a mistake you'll regret," said Mortimer, anger rising as the NPC greatswordsman came up behind him, rope in hand. "We won't take this lying down."
"Mortimer, don't!" said Thinker.
"Threatening the Bendahara of Nadya? Are you seeking death?" The man sighed. "Tie them to the poles, we'll figure out a way to deal with them."
Guards surrounded them, rope in hand. That was the least of his worries and his mind raced, thinking of how to alert his company. The next of his worries was the person the Bendahara mentioned. He wasn't familiar with Asian titles but he assumed that they were also a high ranking noble or knight. One who could stalk and kill. Facing an NPC kingdom is a far greater threat than a bunch of centaurs will ever be.
The most pressing was another thing the Bendahara mentioned. Paradise? Gods? A shiver of fear went down his spine, trying to recall all the bosses he had to fight. Literal gods were another thing entirely. When he signed up for an epic fantasy adventure, slaying deities was not something he signed up for.
The players were arguing, shouting, threatening; their pleas falling on deaf ears. Mortimer was stewing in anger, Maqdissi told him he had good connections to the Cartographer's Guild, Thinker was trying to make a deal of sorts. He snapped out of it, needed to focus. He tried to recall how many soldier there were, the lay of the camp. Ridwan looked at the entourage wondering if he could signal them in a way that didn't alert the NPCs. Now he regretted turning down Adalid's offer in learning sign language.
He grunted in pain as the guards finished tying his hands behind his back. The entourage had a mix of fear, anger, disgust plain on their faces. The Bendahara waved them away. As they were being led away at sword point, Thinker whispered to him, "Don't worry, I've got a plan. We'll discuss this la-"
"Ho there!" said a man in green armour. "Long time no see, Asaya!"
"Lord Tonto!" said the lady captain. "Your household have been looking for you! We feared you may have been kidnapped ….. again."
The spiky knight shrugged and laughed a jolly laugh. "Oh you know how it is, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!"
The Bendahara sighed. "Lord Tonto, your family worries for you. But now you're hear, I'll be sure to send some of your retinue to pick you up."
"Bah, that can wait! I have news to tell you, Setia!" He glanced at the players. "By the by, is there a reason you're arresting these Outsiders?"
"They sacked the caravanserai, my lord, and should be punished. This is the fate of all bandits," he said righteously.
Tonto shook his head, impressive in such a cumbersome helmet. "No Setia, they didn't. It was monsters. Covered in oil. I was there, fighting with them." He leaned forward, said in a low voice, "Like the stories our grandfathers used to tell. They have returned."
The nobleman paled, his breathing became noisy. "They aren't lying."
A sudden heaviness appeared enveloped them, and despite the size of the tent Ridwan felt a sense of claustrophobia. His fellow players seemed just as uneasy but the NPCs looked absolutely terrified. Their eyes darted around the tent, looking for something that isn't there. It was a bright sunny afternoon and he felt colder and more anxious in that tent than he did in an actual labyrinthian crypt.
The two lords disappeared in the tent's other room. The players stayed there, still captive. The guards stood silent but could tell was disturbed and weren't paying all that much attention. He noticed Maqdissi's companion with a tiny blade in his hands. Mortimer's big underling was seemingly trying to break through his rope through sheer power.
The two nobles appeared once again and any escape attempt quickly stopped. They were unbond as quickly as they were bounded, the guards either not noticing or choosing to ignore the bit of rope that had clearly been cut. The Bendahara had gotten a hold of himself, playing the part of tough nobleman again.
Setia cleared his throat. "It is clear by your blatant destruction of one of our most valuable trading posts this would have certainly earned you all the noose."
"We didn't do any of that!" Mortimer's lieutenant argued. She received an elbow shove by her big comrade.
The older man ignored her. "However, thanks to Lord Tonto, we have decided that such punishment is unneeded, and that in return you will serve as mercenaries to the Kraton, the royal court. Your first assignment will be following us to the capital where you will be given further instructions. Do you agree?"
All eyes were on Thinker where he sighed in defeat. "Yes, lord. The Aincrad Liberation Force is at your service."
Mortimer huffed. "As well as the Gokkuen Gun. We expect to be paid properly as mercenaries. And we can collect our loot."
He nodded. "Of course, the contracts can be negotiated later. We expect you to get ready in the hour. You may leave our presence."
An exclamation mark appeared in the corner of their screen, text phased into their HUD in the traditional SAO font:
NEW QUEST ADDED! : «CONSCRIPTION»
OBJECTIVE: Follow the Nadyah General's orders. Or else.
REWARD: Nadyah forces do not turn hostile.
That was going to cause a panic for sure.
The now-conscript were returned to their horses only now escorted just at the edge of the camp. It didn't take long before the group launched into angry yelling and insults. Mortimer's two underlings, complaining in some sort of language he didn't understand (Greek?) while the general himself was dead quiet. The Cartographers were busy writing PMs on their invisible keyboards. Thinker dragged him up further a bit away from the others, his own mount nearly bumping into his.
"I guess we're just roped into the main plotline," said Thinker. "I don't understand, why so late? Why almost four months later?."
"I'll be with real you Think, I don't think we had a choice in the matter." The captain racked his mind for something positive to say but came up blank. "Let's get back to the others.."
"Yeah, yeah we should."
The group were halfway back when the green knight approached them on his own horse, causing others to reach for their weapons before relaxing. "Ho, adventurers! You might need this!"
Ridwan caught the sealed scroll. It was noticeably heavy despite its size which may also explain its aerodynamic nature. "What's this?"
"Just read it! It'll be sure to help!"
As they trotted away, the lord cheerfully waved them away, "Welcome to the Kingdom of Nadya!"
Ridwan sigh internally. The railroading had begun.
It only took 5 years and 10 chapters, but we're finally here, loyal readers. The second arc! Woo!
*party hound sound effect*
"Gee Agent, are you going through every floor ever?" Of course not, just 85% of them. I don't have energy to write 100 boss fights and boss dungeons, I barely have energy to write normally! And as I've said, this is a much shorter chapter clocking in under 9k words. One day I'm gonna do 5k chapters and update bi-weekly, but today is not that day.
If you want faster updates, reviews gives me a Speed Buff, so keep those coming in. See you next time.